Chaos Regeneration, Second Edition
by Leolu
Summary: It's been several weeks since her death, and Tails is starting to make a recovery. Whenever he finds himself on the bridge of the Blue Typhoon, however, he determines that he can't live much longer without her. He needs her back, and he'll scour the galaxy to make it happen.
1. Faux Recovery

As you may know, the original _Chaos Regeneration_ was not a very big success. That is because I got lazy and started to rush it. I had plans for it, but I screwed that over by condensing it into a few chapters. I hope to revive these plans now. If you've read the original, you know how it ends, but there's gonna be a whole lot more plot between the beginning and end this time around! I hope you all enjoy this one!

* * *

I carried the quarter-liter of water from the kitchen tap to the living room window sill, where sat a beautiful green plant in a beautiful chiseled white pot. I emptied the water into the soil in gentle circles. She was doing well: she was standing tall and green, and several buds were already beginning to develop. I smiled. As I stood there staring, I realized that I was starting to recover. It had only been weeks since the incident, but I knew that my heart was mending. Slowly, but surely…

The phone rang. I snapped out of my trance and went to answer it. When I picked up, the familiar voice of Vector came through.

"Hey, Tails…" I had only twice before received a call from the Chaotix Agency.

"Er… Hey, Vector… What's wrong?"

"We've… got a busted radio… Do you think you have time to come and… fix it?" I didn't speak to Vector very often, but I knew that he wasn't normally hesitant—or thoughtful—with his words. I suspected something more than a busted radio.

"Sure I do! I'll be right there!"

"Really? Thanks, Tails!"

"No problem!" I hung up. I hadn't had anything to do in a while. Although I was starting to feel better, my inspiration was still escaping me. I couldn't think up any projects to pass the time on, so I was happy to take up any work that presented itself. I grabbed an appliance toolbox from my workshop and made for the Chaotix HQ.

x

The detectives' office was a tiny rental building in the middle of the city. Upon knocking on the wooden door, I was welcomed in by the team's smooth, secluded ninja, Espio. He led me into the office's main room, where Vector waited with a radio in his hands. He gave a warm greeting, but that was all. He wasn't nearly as outgoing as he was the last time I met him. He paused between phrases and occasionally avoided eye contact. I decided not to address it and took the radio into another room to repair it in peace. It was several levels beyond "busted," but I could still fix it. I pulled out some tools and began to fully disassemble it.

Progress was starting to come along pretty well. I was fiddling with the receiver when a bee began orbiting my head.

"Hi, Tails!" His voice was excessively loud.

"Hey, Charmy."

"How's it going?"

"Uh… Pretty well…" I wanted to take the opportunity to ask about Vector, but I knew he wouldn't tell me anything unless I tricked him into talking. I had to be shrewd with my words. "How long has this been broken?"

"Huh? The radio?" He rubbed the back of helmet. _Why does he wear that thing at all times?_ "About a week…"

"A week? Why didn't Vector call me sooner?"

"Hmm… I'm not _sure_ , but… I _think_ it has something to do with Cos- ack!" I gave him a sidelong glance.

"What's it got to do with Cosmo?" I asked calmly.

"N-no… Cost! We thought it'd _cost_ too much, so we… We saved up!" I smirked. He knew that I worked for free.

"Meh… I'll just ask Vector about it." The bee started to buzz louder. Panic. Exactly what I was going for.

"No! Uh… I'll tell you!" I gave him my attention. "He thought it'd be… too early to… bother you… It wasn't until Espio- ack!" I didn't have to say a thing to earn a groan of frustration—and an explanation—from him. "Ugh… Espio's been checking up on you. He… he let Vector know when it was okay to call…"

"Oh, that's nice."

"Please don't tell them I said anything! He'd-"

"I won't." His relief was immediately visible.

"Th-thanks…" Without another word, he ambled off. I was left to finish my job in peace. I still couldn't help but wonder, though, why Vector of all people was still being so careful around me. Everyone else had already started treating me normally, so why not him?

x

I went straight home after fixing the radio. Not that I had anything to do there, but because I didn't feel like going anywhere else. I eventually found myself in my workshop, trying my hardest to find inspiration. Or something to fix. Or upgrade. Or repaint. Or… anything! _How is there_ _ **nothing**_ _to do here?_ I was starting to get annoyed. Angry, even. That all disappeared, though, when one of my maintenance terminals began to emit long, slow beeps. I rushed over to it. One of the lights on the terminal shined yellow. I read the label next to it.

 _Basement Hangar Water_

A leak in the basement hangar! With a wide grin on my face, I gathered my supplies and hurried down the stairs.

My basement was pretty typical. Other than the fact that it housed a three hundred meter spaceship. I took a moment to appreciate its blue and white exterior before a bout of sour memories made me avert my eyes. After some searching, I found the growing puddle of water. I followed the stream of water to its source: a detached pipe. It wasn't a hard repair at all. I cleaned up the mess and returned the supplies to their place.

I was leaving the basement when I experienced something I hadn't felt in a while: the urge to do something. This something, however, was something that I knew I shouldn't do. I turned back towards the spaceship. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew nothing good could come out of it. Despite all that, I felt like I would find something that I was missing. Against all logic, I made for the ship's main entrance.

The interior was pretty dark, but I could still see. I started at a brisk walk, peering into every opened doorway I came across. I was in the sleeping quarters. I recognized Knuckles's room by its simplicity, then Sonic's by the mess that he left behind, then Amy's by its pinkness, then mine by its neatness. There was one room with a closed door. I couldn't stand to open it. I knew all too well whose it was. For some reason, this gave me a pulse of adrenaline. I picked up my pace to a jog and stopped looking into each room I came across. I kept speeding up. Eventually, I was sprinting through the corridors of a place that I never even wanted to return to.

I finally found myself on the bridge. There were five stations: two on each side and one in the center. The stations' monitors were covered in a thin film of dust. Still kicking myself for following my urge, I took a seat in the captain's chair. There was a familiar control board with a grey handle next to it. It was deactivated, so I started pressing some buttons. Nothing happened, of course. I took hold of the handle and thoughtlessly pressed the red button on top. It sent a terrible shiver down my back. After a second, I realized what I had pressed and snatched my hand away. Before I could distract myself with something else, the memories returned. In that moment, I relived every word, every emotion. I let the tears come and soak my fur. Just when I was starting to recover, after all those weeks, I had broken down all over again.

No. I never did recover. I thought I had finally accepted my circumstances, but I never had. I would never recover. I was _missing_ a _part_ of myself! I'd die of heartache in only a matter of time. I had to bring her back. I was scared and confused. I felt like there was nothing in the world to be done.

* * *

How much better was chapter one this time around? If you like this, then you'll love Tails118's story _The Lightning Wars_ on DeviantArt! Please check it out!

Replaced the last couple sentences for continuity.


	2. The Color of Voices in Your Head

DarkHazen: Thanks, Hazen! I plan on it!

I've updated the end of the last chapter for continuity. Be sure to check that out!

* * *

The fear eventually faded, leaving only confusion and boiling anger. I didn't know who or what I was angry at—apart from the circumstances. I only knew to get up on my feet. All reason was gone at that point: there was no justification, rhyme, or reason for anything I would do in the next few minutes. I dashed to the nearest exit. The bare walls offered no distraction from my emotions. As I was storming through the corridors, a single thought entered my raging mind: power room. I could think nothing more than that, so that's exactly where I went.

I found myself there in a matter of minutes. Without hesitation, I rushed towards the control unit and went through the main activation sequence. I slammed down the final lever. Nothing. I suddenly wanted out. I turned and raced through the halls again. A series of twists and turns led me out into my basement. Not far enough. I wanted to be far away from that place. I flew up the stairs into my workshop. Still not far enough. I sped through the front door, out into the runway, and onto a small dirt path.

A little of my anger died as I sprinted through the serene forest road. Flickies fled from their treetop perches as I passed by, berating me for breaking the silence. The sight reminded me of something I was trying to forget: I was the one responsible for the turmoil in my life. The reasons for this were starting to resurface, too.

I was the _captain!_ It was my _job_ to make sure everyone got home safely, but I couldn't do that. She died under my care— _by my own hand,_ even! I was the one I was angry at. I could barely see through the tears. In my right mind, I would have slowed down or wiped my eyes, but I pressed on. I pressed on right into a tree, knocking me unconscious. A much needed release from my pain.

x

I came to with a pounding headache. I was in the same spot, but the sun was starting to set. I had no motivation to move a muscle, so I shut my eyes and managed to fall back asleep.

x

I woke again at midnight with a light buzzing in my head. When I tried to stand, I fell back onto my bottom. I was too lightheaded. I rested with my back in the tree and looked up at the night sky to try and soothe my writhing soul. I searched for something I looked for pretty often: the bright side. At least I woke up. I wasn't put in a coma or eaten by wild animals.

 _Is that a good thing, though? I'd get to be with her again, wouldn't I?_

I let my gaze wander from the sky to a tall tree in the distance.

 _That would do it, wouldn't it? If all I need is height, though, I can fly that high myself. Gah!_

I scolded myself for even thinking that. There were living people who cared about me: it'd be awfully selfish to do that to them.

My head was starting to clear up. I stood and started off towards home.

x

I had too much energy to sleep. Instead, I sat in the pilot's seat of my plane. I didn't have the will to start it, so I just sat there sulking. About an hour later, I finally forced myself to turn the ignition. The engine sputtered to life. Instead of pulling out onto the runway as I always did, I launched straight from the hangar. It was a safety violation, but my safety was still rather invaluable to me at that point.

I cruised from town to town along the east coast, gazing down at the sleeping communities. After a while of traveling north, I spotted a familiar floating island several kilometers off of the coast. In the midst of my muddled emotions, I had an idea. There was no form or logic to it, but it was an idea. I steered the plane towards the isle.

A quiet landing on the thick foliage was no easy task, but I managed to pull it off. I hopped out of the cockpit and ran towards the center of the island. Although it was mostly plains, a thick forest surrounded the large, grey altar in the middle. I weaved through these trees until I finally came upon the brick wall. No doubts crossed my mind as I whipped my tails behind me and scaled the wall. At the top, I peeked over the edge. There was a sleeping echidna and a huge, green, shining gem—at least two meters in breadth. The Master Emerald. I pulled myself onto the ledge without making a sound. I could feel the warmth of the emerald's glow on my body. It emitted the quietest, highest pitch sound my acute fox ears had ever heard. As I drew near, the gem's warmth penetrated my fur, permeated my skin, and spread through my veins. The feeling of chaos energy coursing through my nerves was unlike any other. I wanted to revel in the sensation all night, but there was no time for that. The feeling was already starting to fade anyway, so I closed the two step gap between the gem and me. I lifted it at full force. The Master Emerald shot through the air as I fell on my back. Knuckles stirred, but didn't wake. I watched the emerald reach the peak of its arch ten meters above the ground before it began a slow descent. I hurried to get up and catch the emerald before it hit the ground. It made a soft landing in my outstretched arms, weighing only as much as a large cat.

Knuckles once told me that the Master Emerald could levitate if it was "stimulated," but I had never seen that before now. I figured that emotion was its stimulus, just as it was to the chaos emeralds. With one last glance at Knuckles, I tiptoed to the edge of the altar, jumped off, and flew above the forest with my prize in tow.

 _Why am I stealing the Master Emerald_ , I asked myself as I connected it to a tow cable. The dome answer was that I heard it can answer any question, but I'd have to figure out how to communicate with it. I knew for a fact that it could hear people's requests. I only hoped it could answer mine. I hopped in the plane and took off towards home.

x

That night's sleep brought a familiar scene to my dreams. I was sitting in a large, uncomfortable seat with a dark green control board laid out in front of me. A large window presented a magnificently tragic view: in the midst of the black expanse of space, the largest, most beautiful tree I'd ever seen was being devoured by a hideous flame that almost matched the color of the tree's blossoms. The weight of a bowling ball appeared in my chest, as if I were having a heart attack fifty years too early. Through the dead silence of the pitch black scenery came the voice of the one who had stood beside me for nearly my entire life.

" _Chaos Regeneration_!"

I was relieved of a portion of that weight, but it could never be eliminated entirely. I thought I might've died right then as the world disappeared around me, but I was still aware. Just like that, there was nothing. This nothingness I found myself in wasn't even a black abyss: neither shape, form, tangibility, nor even perception itself existed in that moment. The only color was the color of the voice that began speaking to me.

 _Tails. Your heart has cried out in pain, and I am compelled to respond. You want nothing more at this point than for Cosmo to live again. That is why you stole me from my altar. The power of chaos is great, but can only be realized through the most powerful interexistencial conduit, emotion. You have plenty of this. In order to do this, collect the chaos emeralds and perform chaos regeneration. At that point, it is only a matter of whether the emeralds have enough energy to open the boundary between the living and the dead or not. The chaos emeralds, however, are not on this planet. Be cautious: your brother and friends are concerned for your physical and mental health. Unless you leave without anyone noticing, it is best to fabricate an alternate reason for returning to space. Finally, it is best to return me to my altar immediately. I will inform Knuckles to heed your wish. He will come along and use me to power your ship. Now: awaken and return me to my altar._

And so I did, for I was in no state of mind to question whether the Master Emerald had really spoken to me or not.

x

I put the plane into its highest gear towards Angel Island. The moon was still bright in the night sky. My eyes were fixed dead ahead as the floating isle once more came into view. I slowed down for as I approached it and performed another smooth landing. I hadn't noticed it before, but the crickets and cicadas had started singing a soft tune, easing my nerves.

I made to lift the emerald, but it was considerably heavier than before. I struggled for a few meters until I decided to fly with it. When I did, I noticed that it was only as heavy as Sonic, but it was simply too big to handle comfortably. I struggled towards the altar for an hour before reaching it. I was then reminded of the sheer height of the structure and realized that I would have to carry it up the stairway.

It didn't take quite as long to haul the gem up the stairs as it did to get it there. By the time I reached the top, my entire body was aching. I was quick to sneak past the echidna and heave the emerald into its place. I paused to think, though…

 _Why did I even take it home in the first place? So that I wouldn't wake Knuckles? I'm glad I did, but why did I?_

I still wasn't feeling quite well enough to question or reason through anything. I sighed and strolled towards the edge of the altar. I jumped and flew off towards my ride home.

* * *

I don't even know how long it's been, but I've got a nice 1,800 words in. Can't wait to hear what you all think!


	3. Right Back Up to Where it All Happened

Sorry if you were hoping for Prower Demonopoly to be updated, but I'm gonna let that rest for a while. I honestly have no idea where I'm going with it. In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy this!

CandyCrusader: Thanks! I hope it stays that way!

Also, I haven't mentioned this yet in this story: 'x' is a simple time break, and 'x-x-x' is a change in point of view.

* * *

For the second morning in a row, I forewent making my bed. I was only on a few hours of sleep, but my excitement made up for that. I glided down the stairs and into the kitchen where I grabbed a frozen waffle before heading on to the workshop. I stuffed the cold breakfast in my mouth as I pranced through the clutter that had accumulated over the past few weeks. I reached my laptop and booted it up faster than I ever had before and watched the loading circle spin at an antagonizing pace. Once the desktop appeared, I opened the Notepad application and got ready to type. Then came my favorite part: thinking of a way to get everyone to go to space with me that didn't make me sound like a lunatic.

 _Easy! If Eggman goes after the emeralds, everyone else will hop right on board! I just have to… ugh…_

I typed out 'Get Eggman to go to space' in the document.

 _How… I can't just tell him that the emeralds are scattered across the galaxy and expect him to believe me… Hey, if_ _ **we**_ _launch first, Eggman will do the exact same thing and chase after us!_

'Tell everyone that Eggman will be going into space to find the emeralds, we go before he does, he chases us, ? ? ? , profit!'

 _But how do I know his ship is even flight-ready? What if he's already scrapped it? I… I_ _ **have**_ _to tell him… Not in person, of course!_

I felt the simultaneous satisfaction of a solution and raw tingling excitement of an eminent adventure. Even with a half-baked plan, I closed the notes without saving and ran an old broadcasting program and a screen capture. I contacted Eggman's not-so-secret IP address. Within half of a minute, a plump, angry human appeared on the screen.

"What! Tails? What do you want! I'm busy wallowing in circumstantial loathing and scheming the planet's demise!" he barked.

"Yeah, me, too… Not the scheming part…"

"You look like you haven't slept in days! This better not be a waste of my time!"

"Yeah, yeah. All that wallowing's gotta go _somewhere_ in the schedule, ya know?"

"Get on with it!" I let out a gaping yawn. "And _wake up!_ "

"Hm? Yeah, fine! Listen: I've been getting bored! I know you always wait a couple months between each failure, but could you hurry it up?" His face twisted in agitation.

"How _dare_ you hack into _my_ communications system only to insult my genius! I've got plans to formulate, do I don't need pests like you… _pestering_ me during my prime thinking hour!"

His last few words did me in. For the first time in a while, full, hearty laughs escaped my lips and shook my deprived body. I was well aware that people's brains function optimally at different times of day, but I had never heard it called anything as ridiculous as _prime thinking hour!_ Eggman was fuming by the time my round of laughter died down.

" _So-ho-rry_! _I'm sorry_!Whew… O-ho-kay… Look: I heard the chaos emeralds were (heheh) spread across the galaxy again. We're leaving in a week to get them. So… Ready to lose another space race?"

"Wh… _What_? Why—you would!" Eggman had to take a moment to cool down. "Why… would you let me know that? Are you lyingto me?"

"Lying? Why would I? An adventure's no fun without someone to _trounce_ the whole way!"

He growled almost inhumanly, curling his bushy mustache upwards. "Fine! I'm leaving this planet in… three days! Tell your friends to be ready!"

He promptly ended the connection. I ended the screen recording as well and let out the last of my laughs. After the initial feeling of triumph and glee faded, an unmistakable, overwhelming feeling graced me. I realized that I hadn't simply sparked another adventure: I was _succeeding_ to change my life for the better—the _best possible_ , even!

 _If I conduct this all right… I'll be… I can… I can bring her back for good!_

x

I wasn't fond of lying, but it was necessary in this case. I spread a cut version of the footage everyone (except Knuckles, of course, who couldn't be bothered with technology) under the pretenses that Eggman had contacted me first. I also included that we would depart as soon as possible with a list of necessities. After packing up half of everything I own, I left everything in the garage.

That very afternoon, I started up the plane to head to Angel Island for a third time. This time, however, I slowed to just above the stall speed to appreciate the clear day. This extended the flight to about an hour. I wished that I could take advantage of the perfect weather and fly around all day, but my destination was soon upon me. I landed reluctantly and made yet another trek through the forest. At the top of the stony stairway, I found the same echidna now awake. He was standing attentively next to the emerald.

"Hey, Knuckles." He looked over to me and gave a sly smile. His expression said something along the lines of "I know something you don't!" Verbally, though, he only echoed my greeting.

"Hey, Tails." He sat down, back to the emerald, and motioned for me to do the same. I sat next to him. "Ya know, the Master Emerald told me you were coming."

 _Knuckles. Always quick to spill the beans._

"Really?"

"Yeah. Told me to help with whatever you came here for."

"Huh…"

"So… What _did_ you come here for?"

"Eggman's going to space to find the chaos emeralds in three days: we're chasing after him." This earned a surprised and excited look from him.

"So you need the Master Emerald!" He stood up and heaved the gem onto his shoulder. "Where to?"

I smiled and stood to lead the way, thanking Chaos that he wasn't the least bit suspicious. "Follow me!"

x

With the emerald once again in tow and Knuckles in the passenger seat, I cruised back home. After landing, I was glad to find that my message had reached all of my friends. I could tell by the multitude of bags full of food, clothes, and other pleasantries that had found their way into my garage. A small, cream-colored rabbit, appropriately named Cream, was doing her best to organize the clutter. Knuckles and I hopped to the ground. Knuckles went around the plane to retrieve the Master Emerald while i entered the garage.

"Hey, Cream." Her ears shot up.

"Hm? Hi, Tails." She dropped the bags she was carrying and plopped down tiredly. "Ugh, I've been sorting bags for…" she scanned the walls, but found no clock. "Too long…"

"Yeah, take a break. Who all has showed up so far?" I eyed the mass of luggage, knowing that there must've been more than a few.

"Just Amy and Sonic."

 _Oh._

"Just us five? No one new?"

"Nope! That's all!"

"Huh… Did you bring any of your stuff with you?"

"Mmhm! Right there!" She pointed to a row of small pink and green sacks. Knuckles finally returned with the Master Emerald on one shoulder.

"I'll show you two to the ship," I stated as I took up all of Cream's luggage. I led the two through the basement door and down the long flight of stairs. The basement was dimly lit, casting most of the colossal ship's surface in darkness.

"Hey, Cream, there's a big lever on the right side of that control board over there," I said, nodding my head in that direction. "I need you to pull that for me."

"Sure!" She rushed off to fulfill my request. After a moment, a section of the ship's hull descended with a mechanical whine until it met the ground, revealing the vessel's gaping entrance. Cream soon rejoined us, and we ventured on into the unlit labyrinth. Knuckles started straight for the altar room while Cream and I headed for the sleeping quarters. At some point in our walk, the lights came back on, indicating that Knuckles had found the altar room and done his job.

"First come, first pick on the rooms… Not that they're any different from each other…" Cream nodded and eyed each room indecisively before choosing the nearest one to her. She opened the door to find that the cabin wasn't quite empty. There were a couple picture frames propped on the nightstand, and one of it's open drawers exposed several sets of neatly folded clothes. My heart jumped in my chest, but not so hard as it would have even yesterday. Yesterday, looking into my dead lover's room would have driven me into another confused rage. Today, though, there was hope that she wouldn't be dead for much longer.

"Is this room taken?" Cream wore a confused look.

"Er… no, I just forgot to clean it out."

"Oh. I can just take another room if that's easier…"

"Y-yeah. Good idea." She backed out from the threshold, closed the door, and opened the next one. I followed her in and set her bags down. A small, light blue chao wriggled it's way out of one of the bags and rested on his owner's shoulder.

"Well, it's your room: do what you want. I'll be on the bridge if you need me."

"Okay! Thank you, Tails!"

x-x-x

I was concerned the minute I received my brother's message. My first thoughts went to how his recent loss would affect his ability to lead a ship. There was no question that Tails was the best captain a crew could ask for, but trauma of that magnitude could do anything to a person. I was in no position to say how he was feeling, but I certainly knew that better than anyone else. I had never lost someone by my own hand, but lost nonetheless. Regardless of what I thought, though, I'd have to wait and see for myself if he's ready to lead a ship again or not. With the last of the food rations in hand, I pressed on for Tails's house at full speed.

x-x-x

Apart from the occasional hiccup from the craft being dormant for so long, everything was in working order. The maintenance robots reported all systems fully functional. I eyed the control panel for a while. The launch sequence was fresh on my mind. I wanted nothing more than to initiate it and leave this planet already, but I had to wait for everyone to board the ship. Naturally, I left the bridge out of impatience and boredom. I navigated my way to the exit, where I passed by Amy, who was carrying an armload of rations and luggage.

"Hey, Tails!" She sat down her load in the middle of the ramp and stretched her back.

"Hey, Amy."

"Ready to head back up there?" She glanced up to the sky that would have been there if not for the huge metallic ceiling.

"Yeah… I've kinda been missing space life."

"Me, too. I'm excited to start cooking for more than myself again!"

"I'm excited to start eating something other than premade food!" This earned a laugh from the hedgehog.

"I bet you are!" She picked up all the baggage she had set down.

"We're launching as soon as everyone says they're ready."

"Got it!" She nodded and turned around.

"Oh! First come first pick on the rooms! Just make sure it's empty before you choose it."

"Alright." We both continued on our way. I made my way towards the garage to check on our progress. When I reached the bottom of the basement steps, though, I heard my brother's voice and froze. He sounded a little strained… and very concerned.

"I know he's capable and all," he said. "Obviously… but I don't know if he's in any condition to start leading again."

"Look," said a deeper, less worried voice. "It's been, what, two, three weeks? A month? I'm not too big on keeping time, but I know it's been long enough, don't you think?" Sonic drew a deep breath that quivered almost unnoticeably.

"You should've seen him in those first few days…" Every word of that sentence came out more strained than the last, but not by much. There was a long, unnerving pause. His breath imitated fatigue for a few moments before dying down. "I've never seen anyone so… … … I don't know how anyone could come back from something like that…"

"Really? How long has it been since you've seen him?"

"Uh… I thought I'd give him some space for a while, so I haven't seen him in… two weeks!"

"Huh… He picked me up from Angel Island this afternoon. You know what I saw? I saw Tails exactly how I knew him before. No burdens at all: just a kid asking me to power his spaceship with my magic rock!" This barely elicited a chuckle. "If you ask me, he's fine."

"Yeah, but we're about to go right back up to where it all happened! How can—"

"Hey," Knuckles interrupted. "Let him do his thing! If he can't, I'm sure he'll tell you. Isn't he the most honest person you know?" Silence. "Yeah. Now, let's get this stuff on the ship already."

There were several things wrong with what I'd just heard. Sonic opening up to Knuckles? Knuckles offering reassurance? Sonic being worried in the first place? I took the conversation's end as my queue to ascend the steps. I passed by Knuckles on his way down.

"Make sure you claim a room." He nodded. I continued up the stairs and found Sonic at the top. He beamed when he saw me. I returned the smile. It was only a matter of seconds before he broke into a full grin.

"Are those thick shoes, or did you grow since the last time I saw you?" I couldn't help but grin either.

x

Dusk was approaching fast, but the ship was fully loaded and fueled by sunset. I smirked to myself as I watched the ship's digital system readings stabilize. We were finally ready for launch!

 _Three days, Eggman? How about six hours?_

I then realized that I had not yet chosen a room for myself.

 _Ugh… Can't win 'em all…_

I strolled from the bridge to the cabins, knowing that everyone else had more than likely gotten their pick already. After checking each of the six rooms to see which of them were occupied, I found that the only room that remained was the one next to Sonic and across from Cosmo's room. It occurred to me how little I cared which room I got. I shrugged and entered my room to find all of my stuff already placed in a neat pile on my bed.

 _I'll organize this later. It's time to go!_

* * *

This chapter's pretty long: longest I've ever written, probably! I hope you liked it!


	4. Twenty-four Minutes of Fast

Has anyone reading this read Prower Demonopoly? If so, what do you think of it? Should I keep going? For now, I'm just gonna keep updating this one.

Sorry for the wait. Winter break made me feel more like animating than writing. I've got 2 minutes of a 3.5 minute animation done, though! My YouTube channel is MTP. There's nothing there yet, but there will be in the near future (I hope).

Alright it's been too long, so I'll own up and start making a list of things I've done to procrastinate on this chapter:

2 min of animation

20 sec of another animation

Finished 5 animes in the past month (37 hours' worth)

Studied some nuclear physics

My apologies. I hope this was worth the wait.

* * *

"Everyone, please report to the bridge for launch," I called over the intercom system. "Please report to the bridge for launch. Thank you."

I released the com button and sank back into my seat and started up through the ship's glass blast shield at the metal roof of my basement. Sonic was there in seconds, skidding to a halt in the middle of the bridge. I looked down at him from my elevated captain's seat.

"Ready?" I asked him.

"I was ready _hours_ ago," he retorted with a smirk.

"Well, pick a station, then," I said, gesturing to the four operation stations; two to my left and two to my right. He nodded and took the nearer one to my right. "Remember how to work it?"

"Ha! What kind of question is that?" he asked, sticking his nose in the air. "Of course I don't!"

"Heheh… Alright, turn it on. It should be pretty easy to figure out past that. If there's anything you have a question about, just go through the tutorial." He nodded and pressed the power button on his back systems. I returned my attention to the bridge's entrance at the sound of Cream and Knuckles approaching. The former was beaming up at me excitedly while the other only looked tired. I smiled back to Cream. "Anything you two need to do before launch?"

Both shook their head and Cream sat to my left. "Good. Knuckles, you'll have to operate a nav-station since we're down two people this time. Is that fine?"

Knuckles tilted his head in thought as he took the farther seat to my left. "Yeah, that's fine… How's it work?"

"Press the power button and click tutorial," I instructed. He did as I said. At that point, only one seat remained empty. I decided to give Amy a few more minutes. The ship was pretty big, after all. I stood, climbed down the stairs to the ground, and strolled to the railed deck a few meters ahead. There was nothing but basement junk to look at, but it was calming nonetheless. I recalled several times that I stood there with Cosmo, looking out at the stars. I reminded myself that that could happen again. That thought alone was oddly exciting. There was no room for pain anymore, only anticipation… I heard rushing footsteps drawing near. It was Amy, of course. I watched as she jumped into the only remaining station. In turn, I returned to my seat.

"Sonic, can you open the roof? It's the green button on the control panel."

"Sure…" He hopped from his seat and dashed away. It took no more than ten seconds for the roof to begin prying open, and another ten seconds saw Sonic back in his seat.

"Alright… Initiating launch!" I clicked a certain few switches on my control board. A timer appeared on my display and began counting down. "Sixty seconds, everyone!"

The floor began to vibrate. My job was done, so I let my focus wander. Cream was starting at the sky with Cheese on her shoulder. Knuckles was still studying the screen, trying to figure everything out. Sonic and Amy were both looking pretty bored. I would be, too, under normal circumstances. The minute crawled by like an hour. When the timer finally reached zero, though, the ship jerked violently and began to rise. In a short matter of time, we were overlooking my house and workshop. Our view expanded quickly, mile upon mile of land revealing itself from over the horizon. The planet's spherical form eventually became perceptible, indicating that we had entered space.

"Alright, everyone," I announced. "We're in space!" I heard an unenthusiastic whoop to my right and a delighted hum and happy chirp to my left. "Cream, could you calculate the shortest path through every planetary system?"

"Sure…" She tapped on her screen once… twice… thrice… and waited… "Done!"

After one more tap on her screen, a large central monitor hanging from the ceiling displayed… an indiscernible mess of red scribbles. Cream zoomed in on the image, revealing a map of the planet systems within ten parsecs of us. Most of the twenty-nine stars were connected to each other with a path of red lines, like a game of interstellar connect the dots.

"Wait a minute," Sonic interjected. "Are we searching through _every_ solar system?"

"Well… we only have to stop at each one for a second to see if there's a signal from a chaos emerald."

"And how fast can we travel?" Amy asked.

"Warpspeed is about four light years per second."

"Isn't going faster than light impossible?" Cream added.

"Warp drives keep the space around the ship inside an anti-curvature bubble and propels the bubble, so it's as if the ship isn't even moving."

"Where's that tutorial button you were talking about?" Knuckles asked.

"On the right side of the bar on the top of the screen. Any more questions?"

"Yeah," Sonic started. "Instead of going to every solar system ourselves, why don't we stop at every close group of stars and send some sort of probes out to them?"

"Good idea. I'll be thinking of a way to do that."

"Can I start making dinner now? I'm getting hungry," Amy groaned.

"Uh… yeah, go ahead." She stood from her seat and made towards the exit.

"How many stars are we visiting?" Cream asked. Cheese squeaked and chirped along with her.

"There's only about three thousand confirmed planetary systems."

"How long is _that_ gonna take?" Sonic asked.

"Not including retrieving the emeralds and recharging, less than a day."

"And including all that?"

"I dunno, up to a month or two, probably."

"Hm. You said there's three thousand confirmed… How many estimated stars with planets are there?"

"Well… thirty billion, but chaos emeralds are attracted to life, so there's no need to search every star. We already know about most—or maybe all—planets with life, and that's where we're going."

"..."

"Is that all?" There was a collective nod. "Okay. Let's go, then."

I pressed 'confirm route' on my control panel, and space began to move at warpspeed.

x

The Master Emerald first ran out of power after twenty-four minutes of use. We had visited exactly one hundred stars and found no emeralds in that time. Since we were in a system with life, it only made sense to land on one of the planets with life.

I called Sonic over the intercom to take his place in the copilot's seat. After he showed up and took his seat, I directed the ship towards the planet with life and readied it for landing. I called a few orders to Sonic during the landing sequence, and we came to a smooth stop. Before I could thank him for the help, he jumped his seat and told me that he'd gather everyone at the door. I sighed as he sped into the hallway. He hadn't been quite himself since I'd seen him. I knew exactly why, but there was nothing I could do to help except act like my old, happy self. But not overdo it and look like I'm faking it. But…

 _Now that I'm thinking about it… What was I even like before all this? Friendly with everyone, tried to help however possible… Just a little naive…_

I shook my head and dismissed the topic for later. What I needed right then was a reading on the planet's environment, which I could get from Amy's station. I jumped from my elevated post and flew into her seat. I entered a few commands, and an analytics screen appeared on the display. Loading data. Over time, numbers began to appear, and graphs began to fill with data. After giving it a once-over, I decided that the planet was completely safe… with the exception of a slight excess of ammonia in the atmosphere. I shut off Amy's computer and headed to Sonic's station to expose the ship's solar panels. I gave the bridge a single security check before leaving. As Sonic mentioned, he had everyone gathered at the exit. I warned them that the air would smell a little pungent and entered the code to open the door. And so began the first recharge.

x

The first comment after exiting the ship was from Amy. She remarked that the air did, indeed, smell like fish. The first thing I noticed, however, was the ground; it was layered with a turquoise, cattail-like foliage that stuck to my socks.

"There's animal-like life on this planet," I noted aloud. Sonic commented about not seeing any animals and asked how I knew that.

"The foliage is sticking to my socks," I answered.

"That's mental gymnastics if I've ever seen any," Knuckles quipped. "How'd you come up with _that_?"

"Well, plants wouldn't develop that ability if there weren't any animals to stick to. They stick to animals to spread their seeds around," I explained.

"Whatever, I believe you."

On that note, we headed forward with me in the lead. Several seconds later, Sonic became impatient. He told me that he'd run ahead to look around. I nodded in confirmation. Once again, he seemed to be in a hurry to get away from me.

 _Or was this just a couple of coincidences? Or, alternatively, am I just overthinking it? In retrospect, he's always in a hurry for everything. Regardless… it still feels wrong. Could that be because… nowadays I want someone to stay with me?_

I looked back at Amy, Cream, and Knuckles.

 _Yeah, maybe I just feel like this because I want someone to stick around more now than I did in the past. And that'll all be better soon! Cosmo will be with me again! For now, though… Sonic's not my only friend._

I slowed down and let myself fall back into the rest of the group. Once I was next to Knuckles, I looked up at him and opened my mouth to say something. Nothing came. There were a thousand things that I'd say to Sonic. I looked back down. Knuckles somehow interpreted the awkward attempt at conversation as his queue to take the lead and sped up a bit to fill the position.

Cream took the spot next to me. I looked down at her, and she glanced up at me with a beaming smile. There were a thousand things I'd say to Cosmo, but nothing came to mind for Cream. I looked back up. I looked back at Amy, who seemed to be lost in thought. I fell back a little more until I was next to Amy. This time, something crossed my mind. Perhaps we had found each other in the thoughts we were both lost in.

"Have you noticed something… off about Sonic?" She cut her eyes towards me with a concerned frown.

"You bet. He's been avoiding eye contact, smiling less, and hesitating on his clever remarks." I have a half smile.

"And does it seem like he's in a hurry to get away from everyone?"

"That, too." I nodded in quiet relief.

 _So it's not just my imagination._

"Any idea why?"

"Psh. He's obviously worried about your emotional health and doesn't know what to do," she whispered. "He ran into a problem he doesn't know how to deal with, but he can't ask you for help this time. So he's running away. The problem may be imaginary, though. I know I'm not your best friend, but tell me the truth. Are you alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It's kind of ironic, though. I'm more worried about him than anything right now."

"I see…" She took a deep breath. "Let's talk about Cosmo, then."

The name didn't hurt to hear anymore. I didn't expect it to after learning that revival was a possibility, but it was nice to acknowledge. "Okay. What about?"

She seemed pleased to find that I was unaffected by the request. She proceeded to ask a series of questions while trying her best to sound casual. I noted that she was using Freudian Psychoanalysis, an ancient form of psychological therapy. I wondered why she was trying to use a therapeutic technique when I said I was fine; did she not believe me, or did she think it was some kind of mind reading trick? Or did she even know what she was doing and I was just thinking too much of it? After Amy ran out of things to say, I took my turn in the conversation.

"Have you ever heard of Freudian Psychology?" She faltered at the question.

"Er… Yes, I have!"

 _Right. I thought so._

"I was thinking… do you think Sonic separating himself from everyone is a subconscious reaction?"

"Definitely," she affirmed.

"I think so, too. How about one of us uses psychoanalysis to make that subconscious reaction conscious? You seemed to be pretty good at it just now, so how about you try it?" Her face went red.

"Hn? J-just now? I-I wasn't t-trying to… Ugh. I'll do it…"

x

We walked another mile before Sonic returned. He almost blended in with the foliage, so we were all startled by his sudden appearance. What was equally surprising, however, was his announcement of a nearby settlement.

* * *

Note: our modern age is ancient in the era of Sonic.

Don't procrastinate, kids.


	5. The Simple City of a Lupine Empire

Well, the first voter on my poll said to update this, so here goes. I'll be working on Warfox next, though. Unless more votes say otherwise! As for Chaos Theory, I've still got to get some more thoughts together.

If there's something you can't quite decipher in this chapter, I'll have a small guide at the end. I won't spoil it now, but you'll know what I mean in a minute. Enjoy!

"Nearby? How close?" Cream asked. Sonic said that the town was five sound seconds west, which was about one point seven kilometers.

"And what do the inhabitants look like?" Amy asked. The answer was wolves, and they looked as if they were from our planet. Sonic put an abrupt end to our questions and led us westwards.

x

The town was a bit of an odd sight from a distance. It couldn't have been more than a few square kilometers, but it was packed with rather modern buildings. Many of the buildings towards the center stood several stories high, and large vehicles entered and exited the town over light red dirt roads. In fact, several of those vehicles were approaching us. Upon closer inspection, the vehicles seemed to be double-doored trucks with partially covered cargo beds. They came to a halt in front of us, and, as Sonic had mentioned, one wolf emerged from each vehicle.

"Hello," one of them greeted. I was thrown off by the lack of hostility that I was expecting. "We detected your ship and comed welcomot you. I is Second Marshall Erend of Caliva Sect of Fanghar Empire, and this is my crew."

I was thrown off once again by the odd use of language. Seemingly unphased, though, Sonic introduced us one by one. Marshall cocked his head at the first word, "I'm," but seemed to shake off whatever he was thinking.

"Pleasure meetot y'all. If y'all coma with we, we taken y'all to city and introducen y'all with congress. They likely decida providot shelter if y'allno ship isn't functioning. Or is y'all only visiting?"

No one was left unphased this time. I noted that he used at least three unfamiliar conjugations in those two sentences.

"Sorry, what was that?" Amy asked. Marshall cocked his head again.

"I believes they speaks traditional English," one wolf quietly tipped to Marshall.

"I suspected…" He stuck his tongue in his cheek and adopted a pensive look.

"Pleasure to meet you. If you… come will with _us_ … No— _will_ come. If you _will_ come with us, we cun take you to city— _the_ city—and cun introduce you with congress. They likely _will_ decide _to_ provide shelter if you's ship isn't functioning. Or is you only visiting? I hopes—I hope that is… more understandable by you."

Everyone gave an unsure nod.

"A little," I answered. After a quick attempt at translation, I continued. "We needs… stayot a while… Our shipno power source needs rechargot."

He nodded with a half smile. "Well, if you like, everyone, sit in either cargo bed or passenger seat of a truck, and we will take you to the city. Will you?"

Sonic looked to me, and I nodded. He shrugged and accepted Marshall's offer.

"I'm taking a seat, then," said Knuckles.

"I think I will, too," seconded Amy.

"I want to ride in the back," said Cream. Sonic said that he would be running, earning a perplexed look from the wolves, but requested that Amy or I ride with Cream.

"If you will ride in front with me, Tails, I will likes to talks with you," interjected Marshall. I nodded. Sonic looked at Amy.

"I'll ride with her, then," she relented. With everything decided, everyone took their chosen places. I climbed into the passenger side of Marshall's truck. He started the engine, and we were off towards the city.

"So, you speaksn simplified English?" he asked.

"Er, no. I just, uh… Translated it based on context…"

"Clever, eh?" I smiled sheepishly. "If you decida learnot simplified, you doan so in few hours, if you askad I. I thinks conjugations and some other words is only differences."

"I sees…"

"Oh! Youno friend, Sonic. He said he runad. How fast is he?"

"He… I'm—I's unsure about his top speed, but…"

"His?" I racked my brain for a hint for what the simplified form of the word would be. _"Youno friend:" "no" must be possessive… "Coma with we:" there's no object form… "Heno," then?_

"I's unsure about heno top speed," Marshall grinned, "but he normally runs at Mach two. Five if he's serious."

"So he's much faster than Dash, huh?"

"Dash?"

"Dash is weno fastest runner. He's nothing special compared to Sonic, though, I guesses. Just pretty fast."

"Hm. So… you said you is "Second" Marshall Erend. What's that means?"

"Second rank. I commandè squad of Firsts. We don't uses old rank system anymore. Just numbers. I liked old system, though."

"Ah. And… "è?""

"Habitual conjugation."

"Oh. Where exactly is we going?"

"Town Hall. Y'all meeta congress. Y'all wants stayot, so congress approvest it."

"Congress… Like… government?"

"Pretty much. We bringè problems to they, and they solves they. It works for small colony towns, but corruption starts showot up when town grows bigger. That's big problem in weno developeder planets."

"Colonies… Doedn't you said something about empire?"

"Yes, Fanghar Empire. We is all of Mobian descent, as you seesn. Long time ago, team of wolves goed to space, traveled pretty far, and decided setot up base on another planet. Time passed. They doed some political stuff, developed—I's not really into all that, so I don't knowé much about it—and so most of galaxy just accepté that we appeared seemingly overnight. It is never recorded as significant Mobian history, but galactic history now sayè that some Mobian empire growed strong. Not galactic power yet, but recognizable. Quite ironic, really."

"Hm… interesting… How many ranks is there?"

"Six for just planet. More for entire empire. I's near promotion to Third." He pursed his lips. "How many ranks do y'all uses?"

"Two: captain and friends." Marshall laughed.

"I sees. How big is y'allno crew?"

"Just we five." He passed me a surprised look. "I automated rest of jobs."

"Who's captain?"

"I is."

"Makes sense."

The city was approaching quickly. We had turned onto a dirt road some time ago; it was surprisingly smooth.

"We's almost there. On second thought, I teachesh you some conjugations so you speakn clearly in front of congress, eh?" Not understanding if that was a question or statement, I agreed.

x

The Town Hall was a wide building reaching several stories high. Once everyone was gathered in front of the building, we entered. There was no receptionist or anything; only a large set of doors in the center of the wide room and sets of elevators on the left and right walls. More wolves than I'd ever seen in one place milled in and out of the elevators. We received several curious glances, but none of them were scrutinizing or otherwise hostile.

"Waitec here, please," requested Marshall. He went ahead through the large double doors while his men stayed behind with us. After several minutes, he reemerged and beckoned for us to follow him. Beyond the doors was another spacious room, where seven suited wolves sat at a rounded platform, situated only a few feet above eye level. I assumed that this was congress. _Not quite as intimidating as I thought they would be._

"Everyone, this is Congressional Representative Veon, Carter, Hancock, Sumner, Diaz, Hooks, and Starborough… And this is Tails, Sonic, Amy, Cream, and Knuckles."

"Pleasure meetot y'all," said the center wolf, Senator Sumner, and the others murmured in agreement. "We is telled that Tails speaka for everyone, correct?"

"Hm?" I shot a glance at Marshall, who gave a reassuring nod. "Er, yes, ma'am. I is."

"Good, then. First and foremost, I sees that some of y'all usé nicknames. For legal purposes, we requiré both y'allno legal names and preferred aliases. Starting with you, Tails?"

"M-Miles Prower. Tails." Everyone else followed suit.

"Good. Now. What is y'allno business here?"

"Usno shipno power source needs rechargot. We wishes stayot on this planet until then."

"Of course. And how long is that, exactly?"

"Er…" I looked to Knuckles. He shrugged.

"A week, maybe? Didn't anyone check before we left?" I shook my head.

"We planned on just staying on the ship, so I didn't think we'd need to know that while we were going out."

"How about you go check, Sonic?" Amy suggested. "You should be able to find it at my station."

Sonic agreed.

"Sonic goay to usno ship checkot remaining time?" I requested.

"Ship is sixty kilometers from here," she commented.

"In that case, he takash around seven minutes," I assured. She gave a skeptical look, but allowed it. He exited.

"In meantime…" An awkward silence befell the room for a moment. Diaz was rather discomforted and decided to speak up.

"So… Selbryno Diner havè very good breakfast. It's on Kelber Street, if y'all's interested." Before I could reply, Hooks interjected.

"Y'all probably bea housed in Remeni Residential District, so Melbenno Shipyard beay nearby. It isn't huge, but it havè Fanghar technology y'all havayn't."

"Hm. Both sounds interesting. We visita them," I replied.

"Before we digresses too much, you mindad telling we what bringed y'all into space?" Summer asked.

"Sure… So… Y'all don't knowè Dr. Eggman, does y'all?" They shook their heads. "He's villain from weno planet. After we leaved home fightot Meterex, he chased after we. This time, he goed into space and we is chasing after he. We leaved weno planet about one hour ago."

"I see. So y'all fighted in Meterex War?"

"Yes, we fighted for months and-" I decided to leave it at that. "Doed Fanghar fighted?"

"Of course. It is nothing compared with Blue Typhoonno contributions; we only provided resources. Y'all have heared of Blue Typhoon, haven't y'all?" I was surprised that she—and probably others—knew about our ship since I tried to perform our operations in secret. I failed in that, apparently.

"We have, but… what all do y'all knowè about it?"

"Well… Firstly, they ended Meterex War. No one really knows who they is our what planet they is-"

Sonic burst through the door announcing that the Blue Typhoon would be recharged in almost three days. Sumner pressed her lips and gave us an epiphanic and somewhat skeptical look.

 **Alright, here's the Simplified English Dictionary™. It's all in bold so you can easily skip down to the author's note.**

 **Verb conjugations:**

 **-a: future tense conjugation**

 _ **"I will go" = "I goa"**_

 **-ot: infinitive conjugation**

 _ **"I need to stop" = "I needs stopot"**_

 **-ay: may**

 _ **"I may be there" = "I beay there"**_

 **-ad: would**

 _ **"I would do that" = "I doad that"**_

 **-da: was going to**

 _ **"I was going to say that" = "I sayda that."**_

 **-è: habitual conjugation**

 **There is no direct traditional English equivalent; it means that the action is done on a regular basis, but not necessarily right now. It's often used with jobs and hobbies, such as "I collect rocks."**

 **-n: can**

 _ **"I can do it" = "I don it"**_

 **-ned: could have**

 _ **"I could have done it" = "I doned it"**_

 **-sh: should**

 _ **"I should try" = "I tryesh"**_

 **-st: must**

 _ **"I must leave" = "I leavest"**_

 **-no: possessive conjugation**

 _ **"Tails's ship" = "Tailsno ship"**_

 **-ec: request or demand**

 _ **"Please sit" = "Please sitec"**_

 ***If a verb ends with a vowel and is being conjugated with another vowel (-a or -è), then the verb's vowel will be replaced (eg. "coma," "havè," etc.)**

 ***If a verb ends with a sound that is hard to pronounce with a certain conjugation (like "should teach," which is "teach" and "sh"), the conjugation is modified (instead of "teachsh" it would be "teachesh").**

 ***Although adding conjugations to some words would seem to affect its pronunciation, all base verbs keep their original pronunciation (eg. "doned" looks like it's pronounced "dund," but it's pronounced "doo-ned" because the base word is "do").**

 **Other rules:**

 ***There are no articles (a, an, and the).**

 ***There are no object forms (me, us, him, her, them, whom, etc.).**

 ***I would obviously change a lot of spelling rules and add and remove letters from the alphabet, but that's a little too far for a made-up dialect that's only used in a few chapters of some fanfiction.**

I've been planning on showing different space cultures throughout this story, so I hope this was a good start. What do you think of it? If you don't like simplified English (I don't expect you to), don't worry. It'll only be used for a couple chapters. See ya next time!


End file.
